"All finished, put your shirt back on," said Old Louie whilst patting Jonas on the back, "Pay me," he nodded towards James. Then he pulled out his hell phone, which was relatively nice when compared to everything else he owned. James also took out his hell phone and a few moments later there was a ringing notification, which led Jonas to believe that Louie had probably just received a bank transfer.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Jonas could have sworn that Old Louie was dragging his feet, taking his time to the door, which Jonas found strange.

"Are you going to leave, or what?" asked James, while he penetrated Old Louie with an impatient glare.

"Keep your panties on!" yelled Old Louie, "I spent a lot of energy with my little trick, I just need a moment," he made a big show, acting like he was out of breath, 'Do I save him, or do I let him suffer?' he felt like his brain was going to explode. Slowly, his heart became calm, and he exhaled a deep, stressful breath.

"Could you tell me what a Sinner is, please?" Jonas asked, and Old Louie could see an innocent yearning written on the young man's expression.

"Don't you dare," James cut across the conversation before the healer could even open his mouth, "He doesn't need to know about that. I paid you to heal him, now leave," and he pointed towards the door while glaring devilishly at Old Louie.

Old Louie gave a taunting chuckle as his gray eyes sized James up. Jonas had thought his question rather innocent, but he could feel a strange atmosphere fill the room, it felt rather bloodthirsty, and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up in warning. For a moment, James and Old Louie just glared at each other. Then, just when Jonas felt like a fight was about to start, the old healer shrugged his shoulders and went for the door.

"You know, kid," said Old Louie as he reached for the door and pulled it open, "The thing about Sinners, once you become one, there is no going back. If you survive or escape, I'd check out the sewers," and with that last cryptic message, the old healer felt like he had done his best, as the door closed behind him, Old Louie knew that if Jonas had a connection to the person he was thinking about, then he and Jonas would surely meet again, and if not, it was no sweat off his aching back.

"Did you two know each other from before?" James asked as soon as Old Louie had left.

"Not possible," said Jonas, "I only got to Hell just yesterday."

"He sure was acting strange," said James, "Well, stranger than usual," he shook his head, "No matter, I'm just glad he's gone, how are you feeling?"

"Good," said Jonas, "I've never seen anything like that before, it was like magic."

"Not magic," James licked his lips, "You don't need to worry about that. That world is beyond your reach."

"I don't understand," Jonas scrunched his eyebrows, "Why do you care if Old Louie tells me about Sinners?" For a moment, James considered him.

"Safety precautions," he said, "No more questions, it's time for you to get back into your cage," and Jonas didn't really understand, but after some thought, he soon realized James was probably scared that Jonas would become a Sinner and come back for revenge. If that was the case, the auctioneer was within his right to withhold that information from his slave. However, if James feared Sinners that much, this information told Jonas that becoming one was indeed the direction he should set a course for.

Confirming the existence of Sinners was a boon for Jonas, even if he hadn't gotten information from the horse's mouth. This had left him with another question, though. Why exactly had Old Louie told him to check out the sewers? Jonas couldn't be more curious, and for a moment he completely forgot that he was about to be sold like cattle. James nodded toward the security guards, and they each gripped one of Jonas' arms. "The auction will begin in a few hours, so please wait patiently, stay clean, and be on your best behavior," he gave Jonas a warm smile, "Good little boys who listen well, will be treated much better than those who rebel."

"What happened to my hell phone?" Jonas ignored the taunting.

"It will be given to your new master, and it will be their choice whether you get it back," said James, "Now bring him," and Jonas didn't have time to protest as he was marched back down the way he had come, to the main warehouse, and unfortunately, back into his iron cage.

Should he have tried making a run for it? It was unlikely he would have escaped. Rick might have been a supreme asshole, but he was right about one thing, that fire escape was the only realistic way of leaving the place, and Jonas had already blown his chance when he lost the fight.

"Morning," Jonas said to his rude neighbor, but looking over, he only saw an empty cage. "Hey man," Jonas said to the nearest guard, "What happened to the guy in the cage next to mine?" he pointed over at where the rude neighbor should have been.

"There was no one in that cage," said the guard. Jonas couldn't help but admire the stupidity of those people that worked for James.

"Yes, there was," Jonas rolled his eyes, "I was talking to him just a few hours ago."

"Listen, you little shit," said the guard, "No one has been in that cage. I've been working the shift since Rick had his fun with you, and besides sleeping like a dead rock, you didn't talk to anyone."

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"You're serious?" Jonas tried to think back, but he didn't even remember falling asleep, let alone checking to see who he had been speaking to. His eyebrows scrunched, and he concluded he must have hallucinated it, although he wasn't entirely convinced. He had hit the back of his head hard, and it was more than likely he had just been so desperate for companionship that he dreamed he was having a conversation.

The hours ticked by as Jonas waited in silence for the auction to begin. He hadn't eaten since that poisoned fruit the day before, and his stomach was growling in protest. Soon, James and a handful of aides came through the warehouse doors, preparing to bring out the first goods of the auction.

"Okay, let's start the auction with those guys we haven't sold yet," and Jonas watched as the aides began rolling various cages out of the warehouse, James following behind with them. Straining his ears, Jonas could hear James' voice echoing, and what sounded like clapping.

A few minutes later, another cage was rolled out. This one contained a screaming man, and right after was a cage that had a young woman in it. She looked terrified and had tears streaming down her pretty face. As more cages left the warehouse, Jonas soon noticed that not even one of them contained anyone that looked younger than he did. He thought that Hell's biggest perverts might snap at a chance to buy children, especially when there were no consequences for their actions.

The number of prisoners slowly diminished as James continued back into the hanger, each time his smile would grow wider. It seemed like he was currently making a beautiful profit. Finally, it was only Jonas left inside his cage, and minutes later, James tapped on the iron bars.

"It's showtime, so don't screw this up for yourself. It may be your only chance at survival."

"Thanks for the advice," Jonas gave a fake smile, and he felt his cage being pushed out into the hallway, past a sliding door, and rolled onto a smooth stage.

"Now for the main event!" boomed James as he flourished his hand. Jonas couldn't see the crowd, but he could tell by the buzzing chatter that they were extremely excited and restless. "We at the Dark Fly Auction Services are proud to present our featured product; the youngest and finest specimen we have ever procured in the history of our business!"

'Really,' thought Jonas, 'Could you sound any creepier?'

"Get in a suitable position," Rastia whispered as she came around the corner. Jonas did as he was told, stretched his legs forward, placed one hand behind him, and the other arm rested gently on his bent knee. His facial expression was cool but childishly innocent; like a virgin playing hard-to-get.

"Perfect," said Rastia, "You're bound to attract just the right number of perverts."

'Fuck you too,' thought Jonas.

"May I present a young man who looks like he was fathered by angels and sculpted by Michelangelo himself, the eighteen-year-old phenom; Jonas Ariel!" James announced, and loud cheers erupted as Jonas was rolled front and center.

The crowd was enormous, much bigger than he had originally expected, and Jonas began eyeing them down, one by one. At least three hundred people filled the bowl-shaped auditorium, and although Jonas couldn't quite make out the faces of the people at the top seats, he could see that those in the bottom row were much richer and more powerful, evidenced by their expensive dress and jewelry.

'Seriously?' Jonas wondered in disbelief, 'All these people are here to buy me?' He wasn't sure if he should have been flattered or terrified, and it was both a blessing and a curse for him to be born too good-looking.

There were rude whistles, many 'oohs' and 'awes', plenty of winks, and enough catcalls to make even him feel uncomfortable. 'I'm so fucked,' his thoughts turned miserable as he scanned the crowd for anyone that was half-decent looking, though he was failing to find anyone that didn't have greed or lust written all over their expression.

"As you can see!" James yelled, "My words did not exaggerate, and if you think what you see now is beautiful, just wait until you see what lies underneath!" and he made a very obscene gesture with his hand and thigh. Jonas nearly rolled his eyes. "Without further ado, let us begin the auction," James' voice tore across the auditorium, "The starting bid is ten thousand Sin Stones, and every further bid must be an increment of five hundred!"

'Shit!' thought Jonas, even he wouldn't pay ten grand to buy himself.

"Ten thousand five hundred!" shouted a man in the third row.

"Eleven thousand!"

"Twelve thousand!" Almost immediately, the price had raised two thousand Sin Stones. Jonas watched dumbfounded as the price shot up to sixteen thousand in a matter of thirty seconds. Once the price reached twenty-five thousand Sin Stones, Jonas realized there were fewer bids, and only those in the front rows were taking part. Jonas began scanning their faces, and he could not come to any conclusions about the ones who were still bidding on him.

"Thirty thousand!" boomed a deep voice, and Jonas nearly cried as he locked eyes with the fattest, ugliest man he had ever laid eyes on. The fatty's face looked like a hog's ass, and when their gazes met, he licked his thick lips, and his saliva coated them like melted butter.

'Fuck!' Jonas panicked, 'Please, anyone but him!' and thankfully he got his wish because a woman's voice soon called out after.

"Thirty-two thousand!" Jonas locked eyes with her and thought, 'Well, even if she's bat-shit crazy, it's still better than going home with that fatty,' the young woman blushed and gave Jonas a shy smile.

'Yeah, I'm not buying your shit, lady, you're just lucky the alternative is so much worse.'

"Thirty-five thousand!" screamed the fatty as he turned to glare at the young women, his mean little eyes were extremely menacing and so small you could barely see them. She, however, did not back down and quickly re-upped the price to thirty-eight thousand.

"Fifty-thousand!" the fatty's ass violently shook in its two seats, as he half-squatted and shouted out such a ridiculous bid. It shocked many in the crowd to hear such an exorbitant price, but it was James who could barely contain his excitement.

'Okay, let's see if the little beauty can beat that bid,' thought Jonas as his eyes moved up to find the young women who had eagerly been bidding on him. However, his heart dropped into his stomach when he noticed she was frowning, clearly upset. 'Go on, increase the bid… please!' but she shook her head and made an apologetic face to Jonas, who went stone-faced.

"Hah!" yelled the fatty, "Auctioneer, hurry with the last call!"

"Uh," said James, "The latest bid was fifty thousand, do I hear fifty thousand five hundred?" he yelled, "Going once…" but Jonas' eyes were swiveling in their sockets, looking from person to person, hoping upon hope that someone would top the bid, Going twice!" James called.

'Please, God, if you are in Heaven, let it be anyone but that fatty!' Jonas prayed as his life depended on it.

"Sold!" James yelled, "To the gentlemen in row one for the sum of fifty thousand Sin Stones!"